Blog Archive

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins concluded their preseason schedule tonight with a 2-1 win over the Hershey Bears. The Penguins finished 2-2 in the preseason. They begin their 15th season in the American Hockey League (AHL) Saturday night in Bridgeport.

The Penguins power play got it going nine minutes into the first period, displaying a nice series of passes that led to a 5-on-3 power play goal by Nick Drazenovic. While working on the two-man advantage, Scott Harrington found Brian Gibbons down low in the corner, who quickly shuffled a pass through the top of the crease to Drazenovic who beat a sliding Brandon Anderson to give the Pens the 1-0 lead.After the Bears tied it at 1-1 on a Ryan Stoa deflection 4:18 into the second period, Philip Samuelsson pulled back a fake wrap around attempt and snuck the puck past the short side on Riley Gill with 12:02 left in the third to re-gain the lead for the Penguins at 2-1.Penguins rookie goaltender Eric Hartzell got the start in net tonight and played the full 60 minutes stopping 20 of the 21 shots he faced, including a late barrage of saves in the waning seconds to secure the 2-1 win. The Penguins played a lineup tonight that more closely resembles what their opening right roster will look like:Kuhnhackl - Drazenovic - PayerlThompson - Gibbons - MegnaZolnierczyk - Sill - Kostopoulos Leblond-Carman-UherSamuelsson - MikkelsonHarrington - GoersMcNeill - D'AgostinoHartzell - DesLauriersTOMORROW AFTERNOON - Check back for more anaylsis on the goaltender situation among Hartzell, DesLauriers and Chiodo as well as a look at the roster after forwards Chris Conner and Andrew Ebbett, who were re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre by Pittsurgh, go through waivers. If they clear waviers tomorrow at noon, they will obviously change the dynamic of what seems to already be a well-rounded and promising forward group.